Safe Haven: Born In Hell Book 1

by Bella Claire

  “Good morning, Haven.” Tank smiled sincerely, so I easily returned it as I sat next to him at the table. He put the paper down and sat up straight before smoothing down his black t-shirt.

  Gage placed a plate full of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of me before sitting across from me to answer, “Good question. As you already know, you hit your head really hard on your table last night, so we thought we would stay to make sure you had no complications while you slept. Plus, we knew you would have questions about that demon last night, and we didn't want to leave you hanging.”

  I rubbed the spot on my forehead without thinking and flinched with pain. Then I remembered the demon, and it all came flooding back to me.

  How it transformed, how it chased me, and how it tried to kill me. My panic started to rise, and I visibly shuddered. Tank must have noticed because he placed a hand on my knee to reassure me. I took comfort in his touch. I’m not sure if that was a good thing, but at that moment, I welcomed it.

  “Last night wasn’t a dream?” I already knew the answer, but I felt like I needed confirmation to make sure I didn’t need to pay a visit to the looney bin.

  “No, angel, it wasn’t,” Gage replied sympathetically.

  Easton had been so quiet leaning in the corner, I had forgotten he was there till he stormed out of the house. “You all are so pathetic, I refuse to be a part of this!” He hollered over his shoulder before exiting. The remaining two men shrugged their shoulders. I still didn’t understand why he had such a problem with me.

  “Why was that thing after me?” I started off with the question that was nagging me the most.

  Gage studied me for a minute, before losing it. “Holy shit balls, you really don’t know, do you? We thought there was a chance, but we figured you were just messing with us. Damn, you really don’t know. Sweetie, you’re an angel, and not just any angel, you’re God’s angel. You are God’s real-life daughter.”

  That was the most absurd thing I had ever heard in my life. There was nothing special about me. I couldn’t sprout wings and fly away, and I sure as hell had never been to Heaven. Apparently, I had mumbled my thoughts under my breath because Tank was there to answer my concerns. “He isn’t lying. We aren’t sure why you’re lacking your angel qualities, but our best guess is that maybe you have suppressed them in some way since all you have ever known is a human life. We hope now that you’ve found out, your gifts will slowly start to manifest themselves. Hopefully, we can help with that.”

  “So, if I am an angel, God’s daughter to be exact, that still doesn’t exactly tell me why that demon was targeting me. He knew my name and where I lived. There must be lots of angels out there; why me?”

  “Angel, you partially just answered that yourself. You are God’s only daughter. You have his blood coursing through your veins, and because of this fact, you can seal Hell, trapping Lucifer in his world forever. You see, he sends his demons and fallen to trick innocents into committing unforgivable sins, thus dooming them to Hell. He has tripled his efforts in hopes that doing this will tip the balance. Ultimately, Lucifer’s goal is to take over Earth, then Heaven and have complete control over everyone and everything. If he succeeds in tipping the balance in his favor, along with having an army at his side, he is bound to accomplish his mission.” Gage paused to give me a second to absorb the information he’s said so far. “If you seal Hell, his demons and fallen can’t escape, and then the innocents will be able to take the path they are meant to take. The balance will stay intact, and the world will remain safe. It’s all about the balance, so unfortunately, killing Lucifer is out of the question. You know the saying, ‘where there’s good, there must be evil,’ well it’s the truth.”

  It made sense in a way, but it was still hard to believe all of this. The only thing I could do was ask another question. “If I seal Hell, how will the damned be able to enter?”

  “Think of it like a lock. If you put a lock on the outside of the door and lock it, the person inside can’t get out, but the person on the outside can unlock it and enter. Just in this case, the inside person won’t be able to come out when the door is opened.” Tank rubbed his beard as he finished speaking. For a minute, I lost my train of thought as my mind wandered to what it would feel like under my fingertips. What would his lips feel like under mine. Woah, where the heck did that come from? It took me a minute to remember what we were talking about, but the way Tank’s eyes flirted with mine, I knew I had been caught. I really needed some lessons on how to be inconspicuous.

  Clearing my throat, I moved to my next question. “What are you guys? I remember Easton shooting out flames, and you’re freakishly strong.” I made sure the last part was aimed at Tank. I remembered the way he’d ripped the demon’s head right off of his body. That was an image I wouldn’t ever be able to get rid of. They both glanced at one another, talking to each other without saying a word. Tank finally gave a nod, and Gage answered, “We’re also angels.”

  Surprisingly, I believed their confession. I had seen what they were capable of with my own eyes. They both sat there and stared at me through their long lashes, waiting for me to respond. By the way they were looking at me, I had a feeling they were expecting me to have a mental breakdown. I had gone through too much in the past couple days to think they were the psycho ones. “Well, at least I’m not the only one.”

  Their lips puckered with words that were on the tips of their tongues, but they couldn’t manage to speak them. I enjoyed making them speechless. I had a feeling it didn’t happen too often.

  “I have to go to work this afternoon. Thanks for staying with me to make sure I would be all right, but as you can see I am perfectly fine.” Lie, lie, lie. The truth was, I needed some time to myself to wrap my brain around all of this, and I couldn’t do that with these two handsome men in my presence. My head still hurt, and I felt drained, mentally and physically.

  “Do you mind if we come check on you tomorrow? Maybe we can help you try and unlock some of your potential gifts?” Tank asked through a bite of some of my uneaten eggs he’d managed to wrangle off of my plate. I wasn’t hungry, so I pushed my plate toward him and let him have at it. He gave me a grateful smile before snatching the fork up and digging in.

  “I guess it would be helpful to have some kind of powers if I’m supposed to lock away the almighty King of Hell.”

  “Great! We will see you tomorrow.” Gage snatched up my plate and took it with him out the door. That left Tank. He slowly rose from his seat without taking his gorgeous eyes off of me. They were mesmerizing. He lowered his head causing his unruly long hair to caress my face as he planted the softest kiss to my forehead before taking his leave.

  Thank goodness he wasn’t there to see the massive blush that swept across my entire face. I had a sudden urge to run after him and never let him leave. It was silly of me, I could never hold someone against their will, or could I? I snorted out a laugh and shook my head at my thoughts. I really needed to get more sleep, but I knew I had to get ready for work.

  The harsh winter air was there to stay and caused me to quicken my pace on my journey to the diner. My walk was filled with questions I wished I would have asked. I didn’t want to believe what they’d said, but there were too many coincidences for me not to believe them at this point.

  I tried to logically explain away the things I saw and the information I’d received, but I kept coming up empty. Nothing else made sense at this point. I wondered what my biological father was like, God. I stopped dead in my tracks as it hit me right in the heart, my dad was God. Then my dream came rushing back. My dad came to me, he tried to warn me. The feeling of sureness washed over me, and I knew I was right. Follow my heart. It wasn’t a dream, it was real, and he knew what was coming.

  I made it to the diner with my toes and fingers feeling like they had frostbite. I needed to remember to buy some gloves when I got off so I wouldn’t have to de-thaw my fingers every time I stepped outside.

  “Haven! I have been
trying to get ahold of you since last night. You can’t make me worry like that. I called a thousand times, and you couldn’t even shoot me a text to let me know you made it home okay?” Sam rushed out, clearly agitated I hadn’t answered her calls or texts. I patted my pockets and realized I didn’t even have my phone on me. Shit, I must have lost it when I was attacked. I shivered as my mind wandered back to last night and the way the demon licked my face.

  “Oh shit, I’m sorry, Sam. To be honest, I don’t have a fucking clue where my phone is. I think it fell out of my pocket on my walk home. I’ll be sure to look for it on my way back to the apartment,” I apologized sincerely.

  Sam squinted her eyes at me in an assuming way. “First off, you never lose your phone, but I’ll let it slide this time. Second, if it did fall out of your pocket, you know damn well someone has done scooped it up and took that bitch to the pawn shop.”

  I giggled slightly. “Yeah, you’re definitely right about that one. It won’t hurt to try, and if I don’t find it, I’ll head over to the store and get one in the morning.” I gave Sam a hug before she left to check on her tables.

  I felt bad for making her worry, but if she knew what had happened, I don’t think she’d ever leave my side knowing I’d been attacked. I would forever have a second shadow following me around everywhere. I couldn’t complain though, it was nice to have someone care so much.

  I walked to the small booth in the corner where a man was sitting with his back to me. “Good afternoon, what can I get… Easton? What-what are you doing here?” I was so surprised that my words came out in a stutter.

  “Someone has to keep an eye on you, and I just happened to draw the short end of the stick, so I have no choice but to be your guardian angel for today,” he said with an eye roll, never once looking up to even acknowledge that I was standing right there.

  “You don’t have to do that, I can take care of myself.” I wasn’t some damsel in distress, and I’d be damned if I was treated like one by Easton.

  “You clearly proved that last night, right?” he retorted.

  I couldn’t argue with his smart-ass comment which pissed me off even more. I put my hand on my hip and tried to control my anger before speaking.

  “What do you want to eat, Easton?” I was getting tired of trying to be nice to someone who clearly had a vendetta against me.

  He looked over the menu for a minute. When he wasn’t talking and ruining every conversation, he was very handsome. His shaggy black hair hung far enough to barely grace his eyelashes. His little bit of stubble was begging to be touched, and his eyes seemed to grow brighter as they turned to look at me. “Just bring me a beer and fries.”

  “That’s all you want?” I squeaked out, hoping I wasn’t caught admiring him.

  “Did I say anything else?” he all but yelled at me.

  I snatched the menu out of his hand then stormed off to the back. He knew how to make me furious, and I couldn’t believe I let him get under my skin again. I placed his order and waited for it to be ready, fighting not to spit in his food.

  When his plate came out, I waltzed over to him and slammed it down with a smile so fake, I knew it would make Barbie proud if she weren’t just a plastic doll. Luck was on my side when the plate didn’t shatter. I wished I could poison his beer. I was still so pissed that I didn’t bother to ask if he needed anything else before I hauled ass back to the kitchen, because I didn’t give a shit if he did or not.

  “What’s Mr. ‘I’ll Take a Tall Glass of That’ doing here?” I stalked past Sam as she peeked around the corner at him.

  “I don’t know.” I had to make something up quick. “I guess he just came to eat. He’s a jerk, Sam. He definitely didn’t come here to see me like you’re hoping.”

  “Oh, please. I watched him when you practically ran back here like a bat out of hell, and he checked that ass out till you were out of sight. You can’t tell me he didn’t come here to see you after that show.”

  He was checking me out? She probably just imagined it. “He didn’t come here to see me, Sam.” I loathed the fact that I got butterflies at the thought of him checking me out.

  The diner was packed until closing time. Easton never left his seat and I caught him several times watching me as I buzzed around taking orders and delivering meals to tables. By the time I finished my shift, it was almost nine. Sam had to leave early because she wasn’t feeling well so that left me to close. I hollered to Kenny, the manager, to let him know I’d finished my “chores” and was leaving for the night.

  Easton caught up to me as I shuffled out the door walking silently next to me. “I’m sorry for being an ass.” I paused my steps to face him. I didn’t know him well, but I could tell he was not a man that said sorry very freely, so I knew he was sincere. I didn’t know what else to say, so I murmured a quick ‘thank you,’ and we continued our walk in silence until someone called my name. He immediately pushed me behind him in a protective way. My heart skipped a beat out of fear and excitement. I felt those butterflies again at the way Easton was protecting me.

  “Haven!” the voice called again, and I was able to make out Derek walking toward us. I patted Easton’s arm to let him know it was fine and had to force him to let me step around him.

  “Hey, Derek, how are you?” He put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. I wondered how hard he had been running in order to be so out of it.

  “I’m good. It’s nice to see you. It still feels weird to not see you everyday, so I’m glad we ran into each other. I was going to ask you if you wanted to maybe have coffee one morning and catch up. I miss your friendship...” he trailed off as his eyes finally focused on the hulking form behind me. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed him sooner.

  “She’s going to be busy. Let’s go, Haven.” Easton grabbed my hand before attempting to pull me away, but Derek was able to grab my other and pull me back. Easton narrowed his eyes on Derek in a challenge, and I could literally feel the rage radiating off of him.

  “Who the fuck do you think you are?” Derek was always pretty stupid when it came to confrontation. He never knew when he was fighting a losing battle, which he was doing now. “What, are you her new boyfriend or something?” He didn’t give Easton a chance to answer before he turned to me. His temper clearly rising. “Come on, Haven. It’s been what, a few weeks at most? I didn’t realize you move so quick. I guess five years meant nothing to you.”

  I had to push Easton back. He was going to clobber him, but this was my fight for now. “Well, aren’t you the pot calling the kettle black? How dare you speak to me like that when you were the one who moved on before we were even broken up! You lost the right to have any say in my life when you decided to stick your dick into someone else on my sheets!” There I went with the sheets again. I tried keeping my composure, but my words ended up coming out in a yell by the end. In all of the five years we were together, he’d never spoken to me that way.

  I grabbed Easton’s hand and tugged him along. I was surprised he let me, but I had a feeling he didn’t want my anger aimed at him after my outburst.“I’m sorry, Easton. I don’t know what came over him. That was my ex, but he’d never acted that way when we were together.”

  “I don’t care, let’s just get you home. I’m sick of being on babysitting duty.” The clenching of his jaw and fists were what gave his emotions away. He cared and was doing a crappy job of not showing it. I felt satisfied knowing Easton didn’t hate me like I thought.

  We were able to make it to my apartment without any more incidents. “Do you want to come in for a little bit? I can fix us up a bowl of ice cream,” I asked innocently, batting my eyelashes over my baby-blue eyes, hoping he wouldn’t be able to resist.

  I wanted, no needed, to figure Easton out. Apparently, he didn’t want to play nice because he shoved past me to flop down on the couch. I headed to the kitchen to get two bowls of chocolate ice cream, then sat down next to him. I handed him his bowl, and he stared at it for awhil
e.

  “What’s the matter? You don’t like chocolate?” I teased, and nudged his shoulder, hoping to lighten his mood, even if just a little.

  “It’s not that. I’ve never had ice cream. I wasn’t blessed like you, so I didn’t get to have the simple things. I didn’t get to have a normal life,” he spat out. I decided to let his animosity go for now and address it at a later time so we could try to enjoy the moment.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? It’s like an orgasm in your mouth,” I excitedly snatched the spoon from his hand and scooped out a big bite. I put it to his lips and guided the spoon into his mouth. He closed his eyes and savored his first taste, moaning in delight before swallowing.

  “Give me that spoon!” Within a minute his gigantic bowl of ice cream was gone, leaving Easton grabbing the side of his head as he hollered in pain.

  “Sorry, I forgot to tell you to eat it slow. I like to call that a brain-freeze.” I couldn’t hold back the laughter. After everything that’s happened, it felt good to laugh so hard that tears flowed.

  When his brain-freeze subsided, he focused his eyes on me, clearly thinking of ways to plot his revenge. My laughter died off, and we sat there in a staring contest.

  “You have chocolate on your lip.” Gently, Easton took his thumb and wiped it away, giving me the chance to place a soft kiss onto the tip of his finger. I’m not sure what caused me to do it, but I’m glad I did. His eyes blazed brightly, and before I knew what was happening, he had me pushed back on the couch. His lips crashed down on mine in a frenzy, and his body was flush against mine. I returned his kiss with the same intensity, and our tongues met in the middle, fighting for dominance. His leg moved in between mine, rubbing against my center. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me. I wanted to feel all of him. His firm chest pressed against mine. I reached up to ran my fingers through his midnight-colored hair and pulled it roughly. My hips had a mind of their own as they ground against his growing arousal. I moved my hands down his chest and started to unzip his blue jeans when he abruptly stood, leaving me turned on and alone. I wrapped my arms around myself, feelings of rejection coursing through me.